Fish lures are attached to the end of a fishing line and attract a fish to bite on a hook concealed or disguised by the lure. Fish lores are designed to resemble anyone of a large number of items depending on the type of fish to be caught. Some lures resemble insects. floating on the top of the water and are used in "fly" fishing. Other lures resemble small fish and are used in deeper water fishing. Characteristics of a fish lure that are most effective in attracting the fish include the shape of the lure to resemble an insect or a small fish and bright colors that help distinguish the lure from its surroundings. Another characteristic that is helpful in improving the attraction to fish is motion of features of the lure such as, for example, fluttering of the fins or tail of a lure resembling a small fish or the wings of a lure resembling an insect. Such approaches to constructing a lure have been disclosed.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,714 to Basso discloses a lure resembling an insect having a torso or body section housing a battery driven motor that is coupled to wings that flap as the motor rotates. Several hooks are attached to the lure for snaring the fish. A limitation of this principle of operation is the miniaturization required to house all of the component parts of the lure and the requirement to maintain an adequate battery supply.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,798 to Garst discloses a method for making a fish lure including the steps of die casting a plastic elongated body having fins with curved sections that undulate as the lure is drawn through the water. A limitation of this principle of operation is that the design of lure is limited to a shape that is most effective in causing undulation of the fins as the lure is towed through the water.
Other features of fish lures have been disclosed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,405 to Bowles discloses a soft plastic housing that contains slowly dissolving microcapsules of liquid fish attractant. The microspheres of attractant must be replenished periodically.
Magnetic fields have been found to have a little understood attractive influence on fish but this phenomenon has never been associated in use with fish lures.